Electron-phonon coupling and the electrical conductivity of fullerene nanotubules

Abstract

An expression for the electron-phonon coupling strength in fullerene nanotubules is derived within the tight-binding model. It is shown that the interaction of electrons with longitudinal acoustic phonons gives rise to intraband scattering but not to interband scattering; the reverse is true for interaction of electrons with transverse phonons in the tangential direction. It is estimated that under ideal circumstances, the electrical conductivity of metallic fullerene nanotubules could be more than an order of magnitude larger than that of copper.